


As The Heavens Are Higher Than The Earth

by dorkilysoulless (custodian)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, I am secretly a giant sap, M/M, Watching Someone Sleep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 02:57:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2175513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/custodian/pseuds/dorkilysoulless
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Dean sleeps and Castiel does not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	As The Heavens Are Higher Than The Earth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gillasue345](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gillasue345/gifts).



_“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, His loving-kindness is superior toward those fearing him.” - Psalms 103:11_

Castiel has always understood might. He understands hierarchy. From his creation until the moment he laid his hand upon Dean Winchester, Castiel was content to be a link in some Great Chain of Being: less than his Father and some of his brothers and sisters, greater than the mortal beasts of earth. 

An angel is a soldier, and a soldier is a being of discipline. His role was to protect and aid those whose actions were consistent with the Law. Those who strayed he struck down with righteous fury. 

He still wonders some days what exactly it was about Dean’s soul that unraveled him so completely that he helped the Winchesters upset the natural order. He’s still coming to understand the scale of it.

Castiel has been a soldier, a rebel, a god, a monster, a healer, a lunatic, a fratricide, and a mortal man. 

Tonight, Castiel is simply awake in the dark with Dean dead asleep and curled up against him. Dean’s hair is soft and still a little bit damp under Castiel’s wandering fingertips.

Perhaps it’s because Dean is also a soldier. His discipline is idiosyncratic at best, but Castiel has come to understand the logic in it, to recognize the smooth kindness Dean shows those who yield to him, and to see the ferocity he unleashes on those who oppose him. 

No, Castiel thinks. As elegant an answer as it is, Dean has always been more than a warrior to him. They may have met on blood-soaked ground, but it was the way Dean could be more than a soldier that showed Castiel that there was more to existence than the steady plod of hijacked prophecy and the dominion of the Archangels.

Fear and awe are tools, but they are empty compared to passion and friendship. He knows that now. 

Dean stirs a little in his arms, and Castiel stills his hand. Dean makes a sound, low and worried, and moves again. 

“It’s alright Dean,” Castiel tells him as he brushes his fingertips across Dean’s temple. “I’m watching over you.”

The tension eases. Dean nestles in a little closer, murmurs something that might be Cas’ name.

He smiles and presses a kiss to the top of Dean’s head. This is his vigil now, and he will keep it gladly.


End file.
